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Ankylosaurus
|location = |diet = |exhibit_size = |performer = No }} Ankylosaurus is an adoptable extinct animal in both Zoo Tycoon and Zoo Tycoon 2. Its main biome is the Wetlands biome. It has a massive club at the end of its tail, but it doesn't use it to defend itself in-game. However, it does attack guests with this exaggerated weapon. Despite being a well-defended herbivore in real life, it is weak enough to be killed by animals less than half its size in the game. Ankylosaurus is one of ten animals that can rampage through a zoo. The male has an alternate color, appearing darker around the spikes and club. It is compatible with Kentrosaurus and Dimetrodon. Inaccuracies In the game, the Ankylosaurus is unable to defend itself from any large predator, while it is very likely to have been more than able to in real life. Description Ankylosaurus was the last, largest, and most famous of the armored dinosaurs known as the ankylosaurians. Its back and sides were covered with a stiff shell of armor, but its underbelly was exposed. It also had a great club-like tail that could be used for defense against predators. Ankylosaurus was about the size of an elephant, but had a low-slung, very wide body. Ankylosaurs weighed up to 4.5 metric tons (5 tons), and were about 10 meters(30 feet) long. While they were 1.8 meters (6 feet) wide, there were only 1.2 meters (4 feet) tall. Its legs were short, with the rear legs longer than the forelegs. It had five toes on each foot. The flat, triangular skull was thick, meaning the brain was quite small. The flexible skin of an ankylosaur was covered with thick, hard ovals of embedded bone, which superficially resembled the plates of an armadillo. The armor completely covered the entire surface of its head and exposed body; it even had bony shelves over its eyes. Ankylosaurus also had short spikes lining both sides of its body. A set of horns stuck out from the back of its head, the two largest protruding from the corners. Unlike the Stegosaurus, the armor of the Ankylosaurus was attached directly to its skeleton, instead of being attached to its skin. It also had a bony club on its tail which it could swing from side to side. The tail was muscular, so it probably made an excellent weapon when used for defense. The tail was made from hardened tissue, fused to the tail bones (caudal vertebrae). Ankylosaurus magniventris existed between 65 and 70 million years ago, in the Maastrichian age of the Late Cretaceous period, and was one of the last dinosaurs before they were wiped out by the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event. They were plant-eaters (herbivores). Being stiff and low-slung, they must have grazed on low-lying vegetation. Even giant carnivores of the Maastrichian, like Tyrannosaurus and Albertosaurus probably could not break through ankylosaur armor. It is believed they would lie flat on the ground, hiding their soft stomach from attackers. Like a porcupine, they were only vulnerable when flipped over, which was made more difficult by the row of short spikes running down their sides. The name Ankylosaurus is derived from the Greek agkylos, meaning "bent" or "crooked", and sauros, meaning "lizard". This refers to the way the bony plates on its back have fused with the thick skin, and the way many of the internal supporting structures like the backbone (vertebrae) and ribs have also fused together. A trackway of an ankylosaur was found in Sucre, Bolivia in 1996, which showed that the massive dinosaur could move fairly quickly. Category:Extinct Animals animals Category:Dinosaurs Category:Wetlands animals Category:Extinct animals Category:Herbivores Category:Savannah animals Category:Unlockable animals Category:Unlockable Dinosaurs Category:Official Dinosaurs Category:Cretaceous Dinosaurs Category:Animals Category:North American animals Category:American Animals Category:North American Dinosaurs Category:American Dinosaurs Category:Savannah Dinosaurs Category:Wetlands Dinosaurs Category:Conservation animals Category:Ornithischians Category:Thyreophorans Category:Ankylosaurs Category:Archosaurs